Main menu

Sub menu

The Rising Blue Latino Vote

This chart was put up on Meet The Press yesterday.Ã‚Â The defeat of the President’s immigration bill is likely to have a profoud impact on future elections as the number of Latino residents and legal Latino voters continues to increase.

The state to watch here is Florida; without a pro-Immigration reform Republican in the race, I wouldn’t be surprised if this flips Blue in 2008.

Post navigation

10 comments for “The Rising Blue Latino Vote”

Aunt Millie

July 2, 2007 at 9:03 am

What’s interesting is comparing the high point in 2004 with today.

Bush raised his share of the Hispanic vote from 35% in 2000 to 44% in 2004. … exit polls indicated that Hispanics were 8% of the electorate, an increase from 6% in 2000. More than 9 million Hispanics voted, compared with 6 million four years ago.

In the 2006 mid-terms there was not only a national revulsion against Republican corruption, cronyism, and incompetence, which moved the overall electorate about 5%, but a much more pronounced swing among hispanics, where the shift was a huge 14% shift towards Democratic candidates.

With nativism and Latino bashing increasing among Republicans, it looks as if the Republicans are dooming themselves by playing to their base.

I agree that Latinos have little reason to be Reeps – but the Senate Dems blew the immigration bill. If anything Latinos ought to be going DTS as neither of the two major parties are doing a good job on issues of importance to Latinos.

Dan Chmielewski

July 2, 2007 at 11:37 am

If Republicans blocked it Art, how did Dems blow it?

Nesta

July 2, 2007 at 12:21 pm

Dan-

Check how many Dem Senators voted against it and ask yourself that question again.

If Uncle Teddy could have kept the Dems in line the bill would have passed. It’s THAT simple.

Dan Chmielewski

July 2, 2007 at 12:48 pm

Nesta — Immigration needs reform; the bill wasn’t perfect. But to bill this a failure for the Dems exclusively is inaccurate.

On the same day that an influential, bipartisan Latino group convenes its annual convention in Florida without a major Republican presidential candidate in attendance, former Washington lobbyist turned Hollywood actor and erstwhile presidential candidate Fred Thompson Ã¢â‚¬â€œ who is known for his affection for Cuban cigars Ã¢â‚¬â€œ slammed Cubans, suggesting that they come to America not in search of freedom, but to bring “suitcase bombs.”

The Associated Press reported the following just hours ago: “In his speech, Thompson… expressed his opposition to the immigration bill in Congress and decried the flow of illegal immigrants from Cuba, saying: Ã¢â‚¬ËœI don’t imagine theyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re coming here to bring greetings from [Fidel] Castro. We’re living in the era of the suitcase bomb.Ã¢â‚¬â„¢” [AP, 6/28/07]

memo

July 7, 2007 at 2:51 pm

JUST A THOUGHT

A SURGE IN APPLICATIONS FOR CITIZENSHIP

Several decades ago, immigrants from Hispanic origin came to the USA. They didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t bother to participate in politics. They came to work and nothing else. Why to bother if the country was going OK. They didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t speak the language very well and they thought letÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s leave politics in the hands of those who are in power. Working and keeping a job was their main goal. Many even didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t bother to change their immigrant status as residents.

But a couple of years ago, particularly this year, something happened. Because they can not be recognized or distinguished by appearance, with the so called illegals, they started to realize that they had to become citizens to obtain a higher level of protection. They realized that they were being demonized.

Some of this population belongs to the group that came with the amnesty offered by President Reagan in 1986-1988. They too started to become citizens. There is no way that anyone can identify an illegal alien just by looking at them. They could be legally here; they could have lived in the U.S. for generations.

The rampant xenophobia encased in fear of terrorism has made it critical for the legal immigrants, once illegal, to acquire the status that would grant them immunity from narrow legal persecution. However, it is not strange that in this xenophobic wave these people are feeling being threatened and insulted..

In the meantime, the Republicans had their chance for about 6 years to make a statement that the republican party would take care of the American people and they really showed they don’t care by their non-actions.

The Republicans were mum on all issues with immigration reform as just one of them. They controlled the white house and congress. If there is anytime in which a party is able to get things done, it’s when they don’t have anyone to really interfere.
Immigration is just one of them.

So Republicans have done this at a national level. Pretty transparent move they did, and now the immigrant population, particularly the Hispanic immigrants are aware of this issue.

It is also well known that some Democrats such as Jim Webb, Jon Tester and Claire McCaskill vote with the majority of Republicans to kill the Senate immigration compromise, without offering a realistic and achievable alternative that would establish a more humane policy.

At any rate, this is the beginning of the legal immigrant backlash directed against the Republican Party for their position on the immigration bill.

By your actions, you shall be judged.

memo

July 7, 2007 at 6:20 pm

JUST A THOUGHT

Several decades ago, immigrants from Hispanic origin came to the USA. They didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t bother to participate in politics. They came to work and nothing else. Why to bother if the country was going OK. They didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t speak the language very well and they thought letÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s leave politics in the hands of those who are in power. Working and keeping a job was their main goal. Many even didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t bother to change their immigrant status as residents.

But a couple of years ago, particularly this year, something happened. Because they can not be recognized or distinguished by appearance, with the so called illegals, they started to realize that they had to become citizens to obtain a higher level of protection. They realized that they were being demonized. Many of them are coming to vote for the first time.

Some of this population belongs to the group that came with the amnesty offered by President Reagan in 1986-1988. They too started to become citizens. There is no way that anyone can identify an illegal alien just by looking at them. They could be legally here; they could have lived in the U.S. for generations.

The rampant xenophobia encased in fear of terrorism has made it critical for the legal immigrants, once illegal, to acquire the status that would grant them immunity from narrow legal persecution. However, it is not strange that in this xenophobic wave these people are feeling being threatened and insulted..

In the meantime, the Republicans had their chance for about 6 years to make a statement that the republican party would take care of the American people and they really showed they don’t care by their non-actions and clearly directed actions against inmigrants.

It is true that some Democrats such as Jim Webb, Jon Tester and Claire McCaskill vote with the majority of Republicans to kill the Senate immigration compromise, without offering a realistic and achievable alternative that would establish a more humane policy.

But, it is also undeniable that the most vicious, the most wretched, the most offensive, the most revolting, the most ruthless, the most vilifying, the most repulsive attacks have come and are still coming from Republicans.

Just a few examples to illustrate it.
1) Sensebrenner wanted the criminalization of these people.
2) Newt Gingrich, Former House speaker, who coined Spanish as the Language of the gheto
3) Fred Thompson just slammed Cubans, suggesting that they come to America not in search of freedom, but to bring Ã¢â‚¬Å“suitcase bombs.Ã¢â‚¬Â
4) Tancredo, no comments
5) J.D Hayworth, not reelected, but still instilling hate, same no comments.

There are more cases. The list goes on.

One thing is certain, the Republicans were mum on all issues with immigration reform as just one of them. They controlled the white house and congress. If there is anytime in which a party is able to get things done, it’s when they don’t have anyone to really interfere.
Immigration was just one of them.

Therefore, it seems to me that the most recalcitrant and extreme positions are from Republicans, where no room is for middle ground.

So Republicans have done this at a national level. Pretty transparent move they did, and now the immigrant population, particularly the Hispanic immigrants are aware of this issue.

At any rate, this is the beginning of the legal immigrant backlash directed against the Republican Party for their position on the immigration bill.

I wonder how the Democrats on the Santa Ana City Council will handle the request to declare Santa Ana a Sanctuary for immigrants? That will be VERY telling.

There are few people as anti-immigrant as our own Immigrant Mayor, Miguel Pulido. He put Minuteman Lupe Moreno on the Library Board, not once but twice. And even now he refuses to pull her off that city commission. He also has backed Rosie Avila for our School Board every time she has run. And she is just plain nuts.

It strikes me that local Democrats need to do something with the sellouts in Santa Ana – and I include Assemblyman Jose Solorio in that equation. He would not even let a bill addressing bad cops (SB 1019) to come to a vote in his committee! What a joke…

The Reeps are not much better. Last year I was the ONLY Latino to win a seat on the OC GOP Central Committee, and after I quit the GOP they replaced me with a supporter of Avila and Moreno, Oscar Garza. They are mostly racist and yes they despise Latinos. Except for lapdogs like Garza and Carlos Bustamante…